Land Mines
by Nooshin Shabani
Treasure hunt is always a great game to play. As the objects are hidden curious children search around until they find their winning prize. Children in Afghanistan play the same game, but what they find can cost them their life.
War and politics mixed together both leave there trail of problems which remain when the fighting has stopped. War is never over until there is peace, and peace is never present until people can walk in their community without feeling fear. In countries such as Afghanistan and Cambodia this is not the case.
Landmines are the hidden killers which linger in fields, roads, and school yards. Silently sitting and having no preference in targeting their next victim. They come in different disguises depending on their power. Any child could easily mistake them for being the next new toy. The placement of leftover landmines is a problem which is not greatly exposed to the public. We see war on the news nearly every day but what is missing is the coverage of the continuous war that the local people are forced to face. Mines remain in unknown locations throughout the world and if you're unlucky enough to come across one of these deadly devices they can cause severe bodily harm, even more so for small children .A cheap weapon which costs only $3usd approx to produce is used in warfare often to scare the enemy. It is also used in defence. The problem is once the war is over the landmines are still left active. They can remain active for a period of 50 years. At any given moment an innocent civilian may trip and trigger them off. It's an expensive problem to fix as to remove the each one it can cost up to $1000usd.
Although there are around 350 different types of mines which are produced by 35 different nations, there are 2 main types, Anti Tank and Anti Personal. Anti tank mines are larger and are much more destructive. These mines are filled with more explosives and can blow up roads, trucks and land. Anti personal mines are more dangerous to children as although they don't have as much power, they can be triggered with less pressure and are hard to spot as they are disguised as stones. They were first produced with the intentions of protecting Anti Tank mines so they were not removed by the enemy. Mines are carefully placed and hidden by military forces by hand. Butterfly mines on the other hand, which look like toys, are dropped from helicopters and can float to the ground without exploding.
According to the United Nations, there are as many as 110 million unexploded landmines still hidden in 64 countries. Since 1975 land mines have exploded under more than 1 million people. The most common injuries are loss of limbs, sight, and hearing, and also injury to the genital area. African children live on the most mine plagued continent as 37 million mines are still embedded throughout 19 African countries. Along with Africa, Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. According to a report by Save the Children, nearly half of the mined areas in Kabul are in residential neighbourhoods proving no discrimination in its victims.
Children are the most susceptible to the damage caused by landmines especially if they live in a country where poverty levels are high. If education and health are already poor this can increase the risk. An explosive landmine can instantly kill a small and fragile child. If they do manage to survive it won't be for long as countries with high poverty levels don't have the medical resources for adequate treatment, and so they eventually die or continue to live in pain. Education is another problem as a lot of children are illiterate. It's hard enough recognising a landmine as a small child but if they cannot read they can not understand any signs warning them that mines may be present.
As more innocent civilians continue to loose family members the mine problem eventually became acknowledged. Human rights, children rights, and religious groups all liaised with the government to put pressure on banning the mines. In 1997 a group of 122 countries drafted an international ban of landmines called The Ottawa Treaty endorsed in Canada. The Treaty bans production and the use of mines but also states assistance needs to be provided to landmine victims along with a global mine clear up. The United States and China were amongst the many countries who did not sign the treaty. The aftermath not only causes physical damage to the people but it also increases the economic and social costs in the country. Unwelcome mines can be treaded on by herd which has a knock on effect to the business of farming. Small farmers then loose there herd and are thrown deeper into the world of poverty with no means of making money for food.
Every morning that we wake up technology is improving. Many countries still place and produce landmines making them harder to detect. More common mines made in modern days are plastic so they are not discovered by metal detectors. Smart mines which self destruct can also destroy people's agricultural land leaving it completely unproductive. Dogs can be trained to trace mines and new tool called, Ground Penetrating Radar Devise can detect plastic mines. According to a report conducted by One World, to remove every mine it will cost 33 billion usd. World poverty continues to be ignored as more mines are continually being laid.
As the children carry out their daily chores and play in their villages, mines wait to take their life. They destroy families and increase poverty, life should not be dangerous.
Find out how you can help ban the placement of landmines.....